Shawn leads the U.S. Retirement research practice, which focuses on the defined contribution (DC) and individual retirement account (IRA) markets. He also leads and supports strategic consulting projects for asset managers on their DC-related market entry and product distribution strategies.

Prior to joining Cerulli Associates, Shawn worked as a Research Associate at Harvard Business School, where he co-authored case studies on investment management for professional and personal investors and managing and innovating in financial services. Prior to that, he worked in the Currency Management group at State Street Global Markets, employing currency overlay strategies for large asset managers and asset owners.

Education

• Boston College
  Master of Science in Applied Economics

• Merrimack College
  Bachelor of Science in Finance

• CFA® charterholder

Honors and Awards

• Quoted in the Financial Times, Barron’s, Pensions & Investments, FundFire, and other industry leading publications as a subject matter expert on the U.S. retirement market

• Asset management and recordkeeping landscape within the U.S. retirement markets
• DC-focused product development and distribution strategies
• Advice and product innovation trends in the DC market
• Trends in DC participant decision-making and behavior

• Due diligence project for private equity firm considering acquisition of retirement plan provider
• Lead consultant advising asset manager on DCIO product development and distribution strategy
• Lead author of Cerulli’s U.S. Defined Contribution Distribution report, U.S. Retirement Markets report, and U.S. Retirement End-Investor report